Carton



Nov. 8, 1960 Filed Feb. 27-, 1957 A. A. PETEK CARTON 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q'Zvzn Q. Pei e/ Z, @"M,

m? dig A. A. PETEK Nov. 8, 1960 CARTON 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 27, 1957 I l I fnvenz ar all/in a. PeZe/ L 3" m,

United States Patent CARTON Alvin A. Petek, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 27, 1957, Ser. No. 642,782

2 Claims. (Cl. 220-115) This invention relates to cartons and has to do with cartons of what is known as the automatic lock bottom type.

My invention is directed to a carton of the type stated having interior partitions providing a pluraity of com.- partments for bottles, cans or other suitable containers and which may be shipped folded flatwise and may be quickly and accurately set up by subjecting the fo'ded carton to endwise pressure. More specifically, the carton of my invention is provided with bottom closure flaps disposed within the carton in its fiat folded condition and having means for moving such flaps to closed position and interlocking them incident to setting up of the carton. The partitions, also positioned within the carton in its folded condition, are so disposed as to accommodate movement of the bottom closure flaps to closed interlocking position incident to setting up of the carton. A further and important object is to provide a carton of the character stated in which the gluing and folding operations are such that the carton is particularly adapted for production by high speed machines of known type. Further'objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the detail description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the carton embodying my invention in its set up condition ready for loading;

Figure 2 is a lengthwise vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but looking toward the opposite side of the carton;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an underneath view of the carton of Figure 1 taken substantially on line 55 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a plan view, on a reduced scale, of the blank from which the carton of Figures 1 to 5, inclusive,

is produced, showing the inner face of the blank and its condition after the first gluing and folding steps, the original positions of certain of the elements of the blank being indicated in broken lines;

Figure 7 is an inner face view of the blank after several successive folding and gluing steps, the positions of certain elements of the blank prior to such steps being indicated in broken lines;

Figure 8 is a plan view of the blank showing the condition thereof after a succeeding folding step; and

Figure 9 is a plan view of the carton in its flat folded condition as produced by a final folding step from the folded blank of Figure 8, partly broken away.

Referring to Figure 6, the carton of my invention is produced from a one piece blank cut from suitable sheet mate-rial such as solid paper board of appropriate thickness having considerable stiffness and resiliency. The

blank is suitably cut and scored to provide an end wall panel 10, a side wall panel 11, a second end wall panel 12, a second side wall panel 13, an inner side wall panel 14 hinged at its upper edge along a fold line to the. upper edge of panel 13, a first bottom closure flap 15 hinged to the lower edge of the first side wall panel 11 and a' second bottom closure flap 16 hinged to the lower edge of the second side wall panel 13.

panel 13, a substantially triangular pull tab 18 is hinged to the lower edge of the second end wall panel 12 and is provided with an integral generally rectangular anchor tab 19 attached thereto along an inclined fold line 20, there being a similar pull tab 21 attached to the lower edge of the first end wall panel 10 along a fold line and.

having integral therewith a substantially triangular anchor tab 22 attached thereto along an inclined fold line 23. The first bottom closure fiap 15 is provided at partition members 26 and 27, the member 26 being hinged at one edge to panel 14 along a vertical fold line and being provided at its other edge with a glue flap 28 hinged thereto along a vertical fo.d line and cut from.

the contiguous side portion of partition member 27. Partition member 27 is hinged at one edge to panel 14 along a lower fold line extending from glue flap 28 and an upper fold line extending from the upper edge of partition member 26, such fold lines being comparatively short and constituting extensions of the fold line of the glue fiap 28 and of the adjacent cut edge of the partition member 26. The partition member 27 is also provided, at its free edge, with a glue flap 29 hinged thereto along a fold line, it being noted that the lower corner of parti-tion member 27 is provided with an arcuate notch 30 extending from glue flap 29, the lower corner of the arcuate notch 31 extending from the lower end of its glue flap 28. The side wall panel 11 is provided with a.

hand hole 32 in its upper portion and the side wall panel 13 is likewise provided in its upper portion with a hand hole 33. In the above description of the blank the elements thereof have been described with reference to the positions which they occupy in the completed carton, with a view to avoiding confusion.

The blank of Figure 6 is passed through a high speed gluing and folding machine in which it is subjected to a plurality of gluing and folding steps performed in predetermined sequence resulting in the production of the flat folded carton of Figure 9. In the first two steps an adhesive is applied to the area of panel 14 extending about the partition members 26 and 27, as indicated by the stippling in Figure 6, and the anchor tabs 19 and 22 are folded over against the underfaces of the fold tabs 18 and 21, respectively. Thereafter adhesive is applied to glue flaps 28 and 29 of partition members 26 and 27, respectively, and to the free edge portion of the first end wall panel 10, as indicated by the stippling in Figure 7, and the bottom closure flaps 16 and 15 are folded over onto the inner side wall panel 14, previously folded over onto side wall panel 13, and side wall panel 11, tabs 18 and 19 are folded over as a unit onto the second end wall panel 12 and tabs 21 and 22 are folded over as a unit onto the first end wall panel 10 and adhesive is applied to the then upper surfaces of bottom closure fiaps 15 and 16 at areas thereof adjacent the end walls 10 and 12, respectively, such adhesive coated areas approximately corresponding to and being disposed to contact with the anchor tabs 22 and 19, respectively, in the succeeding folding steps, the adhesive coated areas of bottom closure flaps 15 and 16 being indicated by stippling in Figure 7. In the next succeeding step, the outer and the inner side wall panels 13 and 14, together with Patented Nov. 8, 1960 A glue flap 17 is hinged to the outer or free end of the second side wall the bottom closure flap 16, are folded over as a unit onto the second end wall panel 12 and the first side wall panel 11 and the first bottom closure flap 15, as shown in Figure 8, Thereafter the first end wall panel 10, with its attached pull tab 21 and anchor tab 22 is folded over onto the adjacent end portion of bottom closure flap 15 and onto the glue tab 17-, the completely folded blank being then maintained under suitable pressure for an appropriate length of time until the adhesive has set, thus producing the blank of Figure 9 In the completed blank the partition members 26 and 27 lie between the side walls and are secured to the side wall panel 11 by the glue flaps 28 and 29, respectively. The partition members 26 and 27 are thus hingedly attached at their front and rear edges to the side walls of the carton between which they aredfsposed. The first bottom closure flap 15 is attached at its adjacent end to the end wall 19 by means of the fold tab 23 and the anchor tab 22, and the second bottom closure flap 16 is attached at its adjacent end to end wall 12 of the carton by fold tab 18 and anchor tab 19, the bottom closure flaps 15 and 16 being also disposed within the flat folded carton between the side and end walls thereof and below the partition members 26 and 2'7, except as to the interlocking tongues 24 and 25. In that connection when the carton is in its fiat folded condition shown in Figure 9, one side and end wall thereof overlies the other side and end wall so that by subjecting the folded carton to endwise pressure it may readily be set up. Inthe setting up operation the side walls of the carton have relative movement lengthwise and away from each other. That imparts lengthwise movement to the bottom closure flaps 15 and 16, relative one to the other, such movement of the tongues 24 and 25 with the flaps t and 16', respectively, being accommodated by the notch 31 at the lower corner of partition 26, as will be clear from Figure 9. In the continuous setting up of the carton, the bottom closure flaps l5 and 16 are folded downward by the associated fold tabs 21 and 18 anchored thereto by the anchor tabs 22 and 19, respectively, so that the tongue 25 of flap 16 and the correspondjng tongue 24 of flap 15 pass out of notch 31 and start to swing downwardly while also moving lengthwise relative to each other. That flexes the tongues 24 and 25 to a certain extent until tongue 25 is so disposed that the rounded end 25a thereof reaches the locking edge 24a of one of the tonguesthe upper one shown in Figure 624 of the flap 15. When that occurs, tongue 25 snaps into the opening between the tongues 24 and as the setting up, operation is completed tongue 25 extends for its full width between tongues 24 with the locking edge 25a in engagement with looking edge 24a of the cooperating tongue 24, thus locking the flaps 15 and 16 in their lowered closed position and also locking the carton in its set up condition ready for loading, due to the connections between the bottom closure flaps and the end walls of the carton. Ordinarily the carton is not reused but, if desired, the locking tongue 24 having the locking edge 24 may be moved upward so as to release the tongue 25, after which the carton may be returned to its fiat folded condition, such refolding being permitted by the notch in partition member 31 accommodating upward and relative lengthwise movement of the tongues 24 and 25 as Well as upward folding of the panels 15 and 16, which are of a width approximately one-half the width of the, respective end walls If) and 12, the lower edges of the partition members 26 and 27 being disposed above the lower edges of the side walls of the carton a distance equal to, but preferably slightly greater than, the width of the bottom closure flaps. As will be noted from Figure 7, the partition member 26 is so cut that it overlies the hand hole 33 in the outer side wall panel 13 in the flat folded condition of the carton, and when the carton is, erected for use the partition, members 26 and 27, ex-

4 tend between the side walls thereof substantially perpendicular thereto and the hand holes 32 and 33 are disposed between the partitions and unobstructed thereby so as to be readily available for use.

Referring further to Figure 7, and to Figure 6, the lower edges of the partition members 26 and 27 are spaced above the lower edge of the side wall panel 13 a distance at least as great as the width of the bottom closure flap 16,, excepting the locking tongue 25 thereof. The glue flaps 2ft andt29 are. spaced above the lower edge of the side wall panel 11 a distance at leastas great as the width of the end portions of bottom closure flap 15, including the locking tongues 24 thereof, and the notches 3b and 31 extending from the lower edges of glue flaps 29 and 28 to the lower edges of partition members 27 and 26, respectively, are of a height to clear the locking tongues of the bottom closure flaps in setting up the carton and in refolding it to fiatwis'e' folded condition. In the refolding operatiomafter release of bottom closure fiaps 15 and 16, as above, side wall panel 13 is moved lengthwise toward the right and side wall panel is moved lengthwise toward the left, as viewed in Figure 1, such relative lengthwise movement of those panels being accompanied by movement thereof one toward the other. That swings the bottom closure flap I6 upward,

locking tongue 25 clearing the glue flaps 29 and 28, with the partition members 26 and 28 being simultaneously folded onto side wall panel 13 and flap 16' seating on the lower portion of partition member 26 as the latterreaches its fully folded position seating on side wall panel 13. During folding of the bottom closure flap 1e and partition members 26' and 28, as described, the bottorn closure flap 15 is folded upward onto the inner'face of side wall panel 11, the notches 30 and 31' providing clearance for tongue 24 of flap 15, as above explained. Obviously, in performing the folding operation either one of the side wall panels may be moved appropriately relative to the other with the latter remaining stationary;

It will be understood that changes in detail may be resorted to without departing from the field and scope of my invention, and I intend to include all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claims,in this application in which the preferred form only of my invention is disclosed.

I claim:

1. A refoldable partitioned automatic lock bottom carton formed from a one-piece blank and comprising first and second side wall panels and two end wall panels hinged together along fold lines, said carton being ini-' tially in flatwise folded condition with said first side wall panel and one of said end wall panels overlying said second side wall panel and the other end wall panel and being adapted to be set up for use by endwise pressure causing relative movement of said side wall panels lengthwise and away from each other and to be refolded to flatwise condition by relative movement of said side wall panels lengthwise and toward each other, a first bottom closure flap hinged to the lower edge of said first side wall panel and having inwardly extending locking tongues of equal width at the ends of its inner edge and being of a width between said tongues approximating one half of the width of the respective. end wall" panels, a second bottom closure flaphinged to the lower edge of said second side wall panel and having at the midlength of its inner edge an inwardly extending locking tongue of approximately the same width as and adapted and disposcd to fit between said tongues of said first flap, the end portions of said second flap beyond said' tongue thereof being of a width approximating one half the width of the respective end wall panels, combined pull and anchor tabs respectively hinged to the lower edges of said end wall panels and secured to said bottom closure flaps effective for swinging the latter downward; in setting up the, carton, and upwards betweem said. side.-

wall panels in refolding the carton from its set up condition, an inner side wall panel secured to the inner face of said second side wall panel, two continuous similarly directed one piece partition members both cut from said inner side wall panel integrally hinged at one side edge thereto and respectively having a glue flap integrally hinged to its other side edge and seating on and secured to the inner face of said first side wall panel, both of said partition members being spaced above the lower edge of said second side wall panel a distance equal to at least one half the width of the respective end wall panels and said glue fiaps being spaced above the lower edge of said first side wall panel a distance equal to at least one half the width of the respective end wall panels plus the width of the respective locking tongues, said partition members having notches extending from their lower edges to the lower edges of said glue flaps providing in conjunction with the spacing of the latter and of said partition members from the lower edges of said side wall panels clearances accommodating upward movement of said bottom closure flaps and the tongues thereof to position between said side wall panels incident to refolding of said carton from its set up condition to its fiatwise folded condition.

2. A refoldable partitioned automatic lock bottom carton formed from a one piece blank and comprising first and second side wall panels and two end wall panels hinged together along fold lines, said carton being initially in fiatwise folded condition with said first side wall panel and one of said end wall panels overlying said second side wall panel and the other end wall panel and being adapted to be set up for use by endwise pressure causing relative movement of said side wall panels lengthwise and away from each other and to be refolded to fiatwise condition by relative movement of said side wall panels lengthwise and toward each other, a first bottom closure flap hinged to the lower edge of said first side wall panel and having inwardly extending locking tongues of equal width at the ends of its inner edge and being of a width between said tongues approximating one half of the Width of the respective end wall panels, a second bottom closure flap hinged to the lower edge of said second side wall panel and having at the midlength of its inner edge an inwardly extending locking tongue of approximately the same width as and adapted and disposed to fit between said tongues of said first flap, the end portions of said second flap beyond said tongue thereof being of a Width approximating one half the width of the respective end wall panels, combined pull and anchor tabs respectively hinged to the lower edges of said end wall panels and secured to said bottom closure flaps efiective for swinging the latter downward in setting up the carton and upward between said side wall panels in refolding the carton from its set up condition, an inner side wall panel integrally attached at its upper edge to the upper edge of second side wall panel and secured to the inner face of the latter, two continuous similarly directed one piece partition members both out from said inner side wall panel integrally hinged at one side edge thereto and respectively having a glue flap integrally hinged to its other side edge and seating on and secured to the inner face of said first side wall panel, both of said partition members being spaced above the lower edge of said second side wall panel a distance equal to at least one half the width of the respective end wall panels and said glue flaps being spaced above the lower edge of said first side wall panel a distance equal to at least one half the width of the respective end wall panels plus the width of the respective looking tongues, said partition members having notches extending from their lower edges to the lower edges of said glue flaps providing in conjunction with the spacing of the latter and of said partition members from the lower edges of said side wall panels clearances accommodating upward movement of said bottom closure flaps and the tongues thereof to position between said side wall panels incident to refolding of said carton from its set up condition to its fiatwise folded condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,011,232 Parks et al Aug. 13, 1935 2,354,370 Gilbert July 25, 1944 2,569,335 Phillips Sept. 25, 1951 2,630,264 Holy Mar. 3, 1953 2,634,043 Arneson Apr. 7, 1953 2,739,735 Anderson Mar. 27, 1956 2,741,399 Arneson Apr. 10, 1956 2,747,767 Bergstein May 29, 1956 2,756,900 Collura July 31, 1956 

